Safe House
by miss-stupid-sunshine
Summary: When Tony Stark finds out he has a four year old daughter, he has to make some serious changes. Can he keep Steve around to help? Or will their relationship fall under the pressure. T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi first fanfic, so be kind. I'd love some reviews, and suggestions are always welcome. I don't have a beta so if you wanna be mine, message me. Hope you like it.**

* * *

"Sarah's gone?" Tony's eyes widened and he sat back in his chair. They'd dated for about a year, a long time ago. Sarah left him after saying she was looking for something more serious. Now, she'd past away in a car accident. She'd been one of his favourite girlfriends, kind and sweet, with blonde curly hair. Sarah was a biologist when they met around five years ago.

Pepper nodded solemnly, she'd been friends with Sarah too. They'd met when Pepper first became Tony's assistant and hit it off right away, joking about Tony. Pepper had actually managed to keep in touch with Sarah after she'd broken up with her boss, and they'd meet for coffee for sometimes. Sarah had even given Pepper advice when she dated Tony herself for that short amount of time.

"There's something else you should know." Pepper said, sitting in the chair next to Tony. She bit her lip. Sarah had begged her not to tell Tony, and up until now, she'd kept her promise, but things were different now. Sarah wasn't here now. Glancing over towards Tony, he was slouched, his head in his hands, probably crying. "Sarah had a daughter. Your daughter."

Tony's head shot up from his hands almost instantly. "W-what?" He croaked. He looked over to Pepper, tears were fresh in her eyes. Her sophisticated and responsible facade slipping away. "I have a ... daughter?" He tried the words in his mouth. They sounded strange and foreign. "What's her name?"

Pepper smiled sadly and pulled out a picture of Sarah and his daughter together. "She's called Maria."

Of course, Tony thought. Sarah loved West Side Story, but Tony couldn't stand hearing the name Maria for obvious reasons. "You knew about her, why didn't you tell me?" He questioned his PA suddenly angry.

"I promised her I wouldn't." Her answer was simple, but it said all that it needed to. No one could ever break a promise to Sarah, she was too kind. "She left when she found out she was pregnant, saying your life style wasn't the right kind for a child."

Tony took the picture and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Maria looked like Tony, with curly dark hair and slightly tanned skin. But her eyes were like her mother's, mutated. One eye was a dark chocolate brown, while the other was a very light brown, with dashes of yellow and green. In the photo, Sarah's eyes were exactly the same. They were both smiling.

This girl couldn't have been more than four, and now she was alone. Her mother was gone, and she had no one - Sarah didn't talk to her family, and hadn't for years. Maria was obviously going to go into care, because no one was there for her. Well, not if he could help it. He was Tony fucking Stark, he could make anything happen.

"Pepper, get together all her details and find out where she is now, probably a care home, right? Sarah's been ... gone, " He couldn't bring himself to say dead. "For a few weeks, so she'll most likely be in one of those. Make an appointment. I need to talk to Steve."

Pepper nodded and sat down to begin making calls, but once she thought Tony was out of the room, she broke down sobbing into her hands, though Tony saw it all. Tony would stop to comfort her, but he was crying too now, and wanted to be alone.

* * *

It was noon when Steve wandered into the kitchen, looking for something to make for dinner. He hadn't seen Tony all day and had assumed that he was in the lab, and thought maybe he could surprise him with a nice meal. Steve however, stopped short once he saw Tony at the kitchen counter. His eyes were red, from crying Steve assumed, and he had a glass of some kind of alcoholic drink in his hand - whiskey, scotch?

His head was bent over in a odd position, like he was staring at something, but his arms were covering what ever it was. "Tony?" Steve said cautiously as he moved round to the other side of the counter. Tony flipped out sometimes, over his parents or his time in capture, and he drank and locked himself in his room. Over the three months they had been a couple, Steve had gotten used to them, and knew exactly how to comfort him. This time was different though. "Tony, what's wrong?"

Tony didn't reply, he just slid what he had been looking at across the table, towards his boyfriend. It was a photograph of a women and what appeared to be her daughter. You couldn't tell that they were related, because they women was fair, very pretty actually, but the young girl - four or five years old? She had dark hair, that was already quite long for her age, and a face that seemed somehow familiar.

The reason you could tell they were mother and daughter however, apart from they're hugging and smiles, was their unusual eyes. Her mother had one blue, and one green, with a mix of caramel brown, and the daughter had one dark deep brown, and one green, the same as the lady next to her.

Then Steve realised why her face seemed familiar. Her nose and lips strongly resembled Tony's own, if in a younger version, with softer features. Also, her dark coloured hair was the same as Tony's too. "Tony. Is this..." Steve didn't know quite what to say.

"I have a daughter, Steve. I found out today." His voice was coarse and rough, he sounded like he'd been through hell and back. His usually lively brown eyes were dull and empty, like something had been ripped out of him. Steve knew of a few children born out of wedlock, and he knew that it was far more common nowadays than in the 40's, but he'd never considered it properly till now. What did it mean?

Steve's trail of though stopped when Tony spoke again. "I found out, I found out because her mother's ... dead. And she's all alone." Tony's voice broke at the end and he began crying again, silent sobs that racked through his body. Seeing Tony broken was not a uncommon occurrence for Steve, but right now, unlike the nightmares, there was nothing he could do. Accept hold him. So that's what he did. He held him for a while and just let him cry.

* * *

Once Tony had finished crying, he was exhausted. He'd been crying on and off since Pepper had told him, and although it was only around four o'clock, Steve had helped him to their bedroom to sleep. Steve stayed with him while he slept, but didn't sleep himself. He stayed up and wondered what this would mean for them as a couple. Tony was going to have to be a father now - well, he assumed that, they hadn't spoken about what they were going to do yet. Between raising a child, having some input into Stark Industries and saving the world, Tony wouldn't have time for Steve.

Steve couldn't complain though. Tony should put his daughter first, it was the right thing to do. It would break Steve's heart surely, but he would stand by Tony no matter what he chose. Because that's what you do if you love someone. It was simple as that in Steve's mind. So while Tony slept, he braced himself. For Tony to say if wasn't going to work out. He thought if he prepared himself for the heart ache, it would show less on his face, and he'd be strong when Tony needed him to be.

When Tony woke up it was early evening, and Steve had stayed with him the whole time, just holding him. Tony's eyes fluttered open slowly, and the first thing he saw was Steve's face. It was pale, but beautiful. His eyes looked tired and serious, like he had something on his mind. Well, he probably did. Everyone did. Well, everyone who knew at least. He still had to tell the other Avengers. It hadn't sunk it yet. The thought of it made his brows furrow.

"Tony?" Steve asked, they had just been staring at each other for ages, not speaking.

"I have a daughter." He wasn't informing Steve, he was clarifying it with himself.

Steve just nodded. Tony pressed his head against Steve's chest and inhaled his scent. "We need to talk, Tony." Steve said, and it was inevitable. This time it was Tony who nodded.

* * *

"Sarah was my first serious girlfriend." Tony mused while smiling. He gripped his coffee with both hands, but didn't take a sip. "She was amazing, smart too. A biologist. She had this way, where she could keep me in check, but was the sweetest person I knew."

Steve just sat and listened to Tony talk about his old girlfriend, casually sipping his coffee. They were in the communal kitchen, but the Avengers already knew something was up, seeing as they had all mysteriously disappeared. Suddenly, Tony's face shifted expression. "One morning when I woke up, she wasn't in bed. I went down to the kitchen and she seemed ... different. Like something had changed. Well, it had, I just didn't know it."

Tony laughed and took a gulp of coffee. "She said she needed something more serious, that she wasn't sure what we were doing. A year of being on and off for months was emotionally tiring for her, or atleast that's what she said." Tony's hands were beginning to shake and Steve reached out and held them, to stop them, and also for support.

"Then, yesterday, five fucking years later, Pepper sits me down and says 'She's gone.' I don't even know who's gone, who the hell she is talking about." Tony's voice was close to breaking and he'd start crying again, so he took a deep breath. "And Pepper had been meeting her, just casually, for coffee, you know? She knew about Maria - that's her name. But Sarah didn't want me to know. It's understandable really, irresponsible, reckless, immature. Not a great place for a kid right? But now it's me or a foster home. And, she's my daughter. I'll be there for her no matter what."

Steve inhaled sharply and closed his eyes for a second. "I love that you think like that," He said after a second. "That she comes first. You haven't even meet the girl and you're acting like a good father. You'll do great." Steve got up and poured his now cold coffee down the sink.

"I also understand that this is gonna affect your life a lot." Steve collected Tony's empty cup and began washing it up with his own.

Tony snorted. " You don't say." Steve chose to ignore that. His genius boyfriend rested his head on the table and closed his eyes and Steve carried on talking.

"So I want you to know that I get it, if you want to, most likely end this." Steve said, dragging it out.

"End what, Steve?" Tony said, opening an eye.

"This!" Steve gestured between Tony and himself, his wet hands from doing the dishes flicked water at Tony. Tony's head snapped up.

"What? Steve, I couldn't do this without you. You honestly think I could bring up a child on my own? I need you." Tony turned so he was facing Steve. "Unless, you don't want to. It's a big responsibility. And you're just getting used to the modern world and ..."

"You want me to help raise her? Maria?" Steve asked wide eyed, pointing to himself. He'd dreamt about having kids, but they'd most likely have all the illness that he'd had before becoming a super soldier.

"Steve, I couldn't think of anyone better." Steve was fricken Captain America afterall, the best role model ever. Tony said crossing the room to his boyfriend and reaching up so he could cup his face in his hands. "Please, stay with me and help me with this?"

Steve nodded, internally cursing himself for getting teary eyed. But he didn't feel so bad after looking back at Tony and seeing him looking the same way. Tony smiled and pressed his forehead against Steve's own.

"This might just work out, you know?" Tony said, still smiling. Steve stifled a laugh.

* * *

The Avengers were sprawled around the living room watching TV when Tony and Steve walked in. Well, they weren't really watching TV, Clint and Natasha were playing cards, Bruce was reading and Thor and Loki were playing some kind of paper game, the TV was just on in the background.

"Hey guys." Steve greeted them and sat down in an arm chair, which was followed by a chorus of hello's. "We have something we need to tell you." He'd only said we because he agreed to take over if for some reason Tony couldn't. Like if he started crying again.

The rest of the Avengers sat up straight when they heard that. They had known something was wrong all day, and Pepper said it wasn't her place to tell. So now they got to find out.

Tony took centre stage, of rather just stood in the middle of the room. "I got some sad news today." He paused to look at Steve who just nodded once more. "I found out an ex-girlfriend of mine died in a car crash." They all looked shocked, especially Thor, who would immediately give his apologies, but sense there was something else the man of iron needed to say.

"Tony, that's awful, I'm so sorry." Natasha said. Although tough when she needed to be, and basically a closed book to everyone else in the world, she was beginning to open up to her new 'family'.

"Well, the thing is she had a daughter. And although she didn't tell me, it's my daughter." He said, and with a sigh, he took the slightly crumpled picture of the two Pepper had given him and passed it to Bruce, who would then pass it around. "Her name's Maria and she's four."

"Maria?" Bruce asked, pushing his glasses up. "Like after your mother?"

Tony laughed. "No, Sarah never knew my mother. Just a coincidence really."

"So." Clint was the first person to face the question on everyone's mind. "What are you gonna do?"

Tony's eyes fluttered to Steve's. "She's staying in a care home right now, but I don't want her to stay there."

"I don't think any of us do." Natasha said, and then her eyes widened when she realised she'd said it. "Sorry Tony, it's your decision."

"So, I'm taking her in, she's living with me." Tony glanced at Steve who was smiling, which made Tony smile. "So, we have two choices. I have around, 2 or 3 more homes in New York right now, where I can move to, till I find a more suitable place." The Avengers all looked confused.

"Why doesn't she stay here?" Clint asked.

"How could she stay here?" Loki said, speaking for the first time. "It's not exactly the safest place for a child is it."

"Yeah, but she'd have all of us to protect her." Natasha said. "Earth's mightiest hero's, remember?"

"Well," Tony said looking round. "That was option two." Thor smile was beaming, and he got up to hug Tony.

"I cannot think of a better place for the child, then here, surrounded by all those who will love her dearly." He gestured to all people scattered around the room.

"Then, it's settled I guess."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, here's the second chapter. Thanks for the great response to the first one, a big shout out to**** KarelaTheRedHawk and PilotIsis for their lovely reviews and a massive thank you to PaigeD6 for agreeing to be my beta :) Hope you like it.**

* * *

Tony had arranged for Pepper to pick Maria up. None of her relatives knew Sarah was dead - and they probably didn't even know Maria was alive. So it had been settled, with Sarah's will, that she would go to Tony. All of the Avengers were at the tower, making it appropriate for a four year old, and also trying to calm each other down.

Pepper hadn't seen Maria since she was around two, and she'd changed. Before she was a loud toddler, braver than she should be for her age. Trying to walk before she could, and when she could walk, trying to run before she could do that either.

Now, the child sitting before her was quiet and kept to herself. She had Tony's dark hair, but it curled the way Sarah's had. Her face was heart shaped and seemed to small for her big, innocent eyes. It was her eyes that you noticed first about the girl. Maria had inherited hetrochromia from her mother, and one one chocolate brown eye, one light brown, with hints of green and slightly yellow.

"Wow." Pepper said under her breath, as Maria entered the meeting room of the care home.

"Maria, this woman here is to take you to your new home." The owner of the care home was a rather large woman and Maria stood slightly behind her.

"I don't suppose you remember me, I knew you when you were very little." Pepper said, smiling sweetly. "Why don't you come and sit down?" She patted the couch next to her.

Maria walked over to Pepper and sat down next to her. She copied Pepper's posture and folded her hands in her lap. "It's nice to meet you." She didn't look at Pepper when she talked, and she had a very slight lisp, as most children do at some point.

"You know where you're going, right?" Pepper asked, even though she knew the answer. Maria nodded.

"To meet my daddy, and live with him." She didn't sound very excited, but there was something in her voice, anxiety? Nervousness?

"And you're okay with that?" Pepper asked again. She wanted to make sure that Maria would be completely comfortable in the tower.

"I'm looking forward to meeting him." Maria said, and she spoke like a six year old, nearly seven, rather than a four year old.

"Are you sure Maria, because you don't have to?" Pepper prompted.

Maria paused before saying what she said next, like she was deciding to say it or not. "Will he like me?"  
Pepper looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Will he like me? When I ask mummy why I didn't have a daddy, she said he was a very busy man. Why isn't he busy anymore, did I do something wrong?" She wasn't copying Pepper anymore, and tears started filling her eyes.

"Oh, of course he'll like you." Pepper said reaching out for the child. "He loves you, he just couldn't see you till now. And you won't just be getting a daddy, you'll be getting Uncles and Aunts too."

Maria looked up at Pepper with her big round eyes gleaming. "Really? Like a big family?" She'd heard her friends talking about their family at school, but she'd only ever had her mother.

"Yep. There's your Aunt Tasha, and Uncle Thor, Uncle Bruce, Uncle Loki, " She internally snickered at 'Uncle Loki'. "Uncle Clint," She didn't know what to say about Steve. Uncles don't go out with your dad. They'd have to work that out. "I'm your Aunt Pepper." She laughed and smiled again.

Maria starting smiling then, and it was shocking how much she looked like Sarah, facially wise. "I'd like that lots."

"Wanna get ready to go?" Pepper beamed down at the girl, who nodded and jumped up.

* * *

"Tony?" Pepper called through into the phone. "We'll be there in ten minutes." Her voice was crackly through the receiver.

"Okay Peps, I gotta go get everyone." He ended the call. "Steve!" He shouted down the hallway. Steve poked his head round the corner. "Ten minutes. Ten minutes! I'm not sure if I can do this anymore!" He ran over to Steve, who pulled him into a tight embrace and laughed.

"It's gonna be fine. Trust me." Steve looked down at Tony, gave him a quick kiss and smiled.

"Ew guys, get a room." Clint called from on top of a bookcase.

"We had one thank you very much. In fact, these are all my rooms." Tony retaliated. Steve laughed and went back packing away the things he'd left in the gym.

"Oh well. Ten minutes you say?" Clint slid down the side of the bookcase and landed with a thud. "Natasha, kid's gonna be here soon!" Natasha walked into the hallway and leaned against the wall.

"Nervous, Stark?" She asked smiling. She folded her arms and Clint went and leaned next to her. He was smirking. Seriously, Tony thought, they looked like the two evil ones out of pokemon, Jessie and the other one.

"Natasha, now isn't a good time. Can you make him behave himself too?" Natasha just simply turned to Clint, and he put up his hands defensively, then walked away. "Thank God for that."

"He's only trying to lighten the mood." Natasha reasoned. "Tony, calm down. She's probably just as nervous as you are, if not more. If you act nervous she's gonna think something's wrong. So just relax." And then she walked off.

Tony's heart felt like it was going to jump out of his mouth, and he never got nervous. Ever. So, when Pepper texted him that they were in the elevator, he almost had a heart attack.

"Steve! Steve they're here!" Tony practically screamed. Steve walked into the room and over to Tony, wrapping his arms around him.

"Relax, okay? It's gonna be fine." Steve kissed his forehead, then sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. Tony thought it'd best to join him, rather than freaking the little girl out, by pacing up and down.

Only a minute later, the elevator sounded and the doors opened. "Tony?" He heard Pepper calling.

"Over here!" He called back. He looked over to Steve, who gave him a big thumbs up, took a deep breath, then stood up.

Tony could hear Pepper toss her keys into the dish, then walk down the hallway into the room they were currently in. The click of Pepper's heels were somewhat muffled by shuffling of smaller feet. Tony was aware that his heart was beating so fast, the arc reactor was probably going to explode.

And then they were in the room. Pepper was holding Maria's hand, she was bent over slightly so that Maria could reach. Maria looked exactly how she did in the photo, curly dark hair, and tanned skin. Her eyes, just like Sarah's, were the main feature of her face.

Now, Maria, for her age, was an extremely bright child (most likely passed on from her father, and her mother) and she could tell straight away, that this was her father. He had the same coloured skin, same coloured hair, and she had one eye the same as his. "Dad..." She breathed out. She wasn't sure why, but she already felt immediately comfortable there.

"Hi Maria." Tony smiled one of his best smiles and looked her dead in the eyes. Then several things happened at once. Maria dropped Pepper's hand and began running over to Tony, while simultaneously, Tony dropped to his knees. Then they were hugging each other. Nobody was really sure who had hugged who first, because they had both reached out at the same time. "You're gonna be so happy here. I'll make sure of it." Tony whispered into her eye, and they were both smiling. Tony, however, was also a bit teary eyed.

Steve was sure that Pepper felt the same way he did, that they were intruding on a private moment, but neither could bring themselves to look away from the sight on the floor infront of them. He could see a single tear rolling down Pepper's cheek, and she looked over and smiled at him.

"Dad," Maria began to speak, so Tony pulled away slightly so he could look at her when she spoke. She seemed confused. "What's he doing up there?"

Everybody in the room swivelled to look where Maria was pointing, and saw a rather amused Clint sitting on a rather high shelf. "Hey." He said smirking. Maria giggled. To Tony, the sound of her laugh was like music in his ears.

"Clint!" Steve said. "Get down from there."

"Yeah, and come say hi." Tony said, gesturing to Maria, like he wanted to show her off. And, he kinda did.

"Hey kiddo, I'm Uncle Clint, okay?" He had managed to slip down the second they had all turned away and make his way, silently, to the other side of the room. Maria laughed again and nodded.

"Hey, if he gets to be an Uncle, then I'm definitely an Aunt." Natasha said, swaying into the room. She knelt down beside the girl and said "I'm Aunty Tash, sweet heart." Everyone was taken a back. They'd never heard Natasha call anyone 'sweet heart' before. Maybe she had a soft spot for kids. Or maybe it was just this kid. Hell, everyone could agree she was adorable.

Maria smiled up at Natasha, a smile that could make anyone's heart melt. This little girl was going to be spoilt rotten. "So, do you wanna go and meet the others?" Tony said, getting up and holding his hand out for Maria.

She nodded and grabbed his hand tightly. "Okay, so you know Pepper? And now you know Clint and Tasha. So, this is Steve."

Tony walked round to the other side of the couch where Steve was still sitting, but he was turned so he could see the whole thing play out. "Nice to meet you, Miss." He mimed a salute, just because he was sure it would make her laugh again. He was right. "You have very pretty eyes, you know." He added, smiling. She smiled right back and him and said a quiet thank you. Tony looked at Steve and started beaming.

"We'll go find Thor and everyone, you guys wanna come?" Tony said turning around and looking at the others. Clint and Natasha had already disappeared somewhere, and Pepper shook her head saying something about paperwork. Steve said he'd go finish his work out, because he'd had to cut it in half this morning. "Guess it's just us then." Tony said to Maria.

"I like him." Maria said as they began walking to the elevator.

"Who Steve? Yeah, I like him too." Tony smiled to himself as he pressed the elevator button. In that moment, Tony had made an conscious decision to be a better father to Maria, than his father ever was to him.

* * *

"Loki, that is most unfair. How did you come to possess the blue shell?" Thor whined, while dramatically turning the wii remote from side to side. Loki didn't reply, he just laughed. "You win again, brother." Thor sighed.

"Wish to play again?" Loki said, smiling deviously. "Just one more game?"  
Before Thor could reply, the games room door opened, revealing Tony and a small child. "Hi guys, I thought I'd find you in here. Guys, this is Maria, and Maria, this is Thor and Loki." She smiled sheepishly and waved.

"Young child, I believe you shall feel most at home here. It's a great pleasure to meet you, as I have heard much from the man of iron about you." Thor beamed at the young girl, and although he was double the size of a normal man, Maria could see he was harmless.

"Thor, if you speak so loudly you'll startle the girl. As your father said, I am Loki." He smiled for about all of two seconds then went back to his usual expression, a mix between tired and just plain bored.

"Right, well, we're going now. Clint says dinner's gonna be ready in an hour or so." And with that Tony left. Maria looked up at him.

"They're kinda weird." Maria crinkled her nose. "And who's the man of iron?" Tony didn't know whether to tell her about the Avengers. She wasn't dumb, you could already see that, so she would figure out eventually. Just, not on her first day here.

"It's just a nickname for me. C'mon, let's go find Bruce." Tony started walking away again.

* * *

Bruce had been in his lab all morning, and had only been done to get some coffee and say good morning to everyone. He thought he'd had a break through the study him and Tony had started about Steve's serum. They had agreed not to recreate it, just to study it. It turns out that although people thought Steve's healing process was speed up, it didn't just do that. It gave him immunities, so now he couldn't get sick at all. It was rather interesting, you could put any virus into the blood cells they had collected from Steve, and watch it mutated within a second to become stronger. That would take around a week, usually.

He looked up when he heard the lab door open, and heard a gasp from a little girl. Tony laughed and looked down at her. "Like science, eh?" She nodded and looked around. She was already at the level for someone twice her age at science, but eight year olds wouldn't understand this.

"Hey Bruce." Tony led the girl Bruce assumed to be Maria, over to the desk where he was working. "This is Uncle Bruce, Maria." Tony lifted her up to sit on the desk. She waved and smiled.

"Hi Maria." He said, taking off his glasses. Then he had an idea. "Would you like to see what I'm working on?" Her eyes widen and she nodded again. It was inevitable really, with a biologist for a mother, and, well, a very all rounded scientist for a father, this girl was going to have a love for science.

Bruce started walking over to the microscope he had just used, Tony picked Maria up and followed him. "Right, this is gonna go very quickly, so look it there." He pointed to the microscope, and she lent over to do so. "See the blotchy things? They're cells, they make up the human body, different kind of cells." She nodded again, and Bruce got the feeling she didn't like talking much. Huh, like me, he thought

"Okay, watch them." He added a drop of liquid to the slide. Tony saw Maria smiling wider than he had seen her this whole time. "Did you see them move?"

"Yeah, they swallowed it up." She said still looking in the microscope, even though the mutation had stopped.

"Sorta. See I injected a virus into it, and that action you saw it doing was it becoming immune to it." Bruce spoke moving his hands. He wasn't sure how much of that she understood, but she was pretending she did if she didn't.

Tony and Bruce starting talking about his discovery, while Maria half listened in, to see if they said anything she understood. They didn't. The lab door opened and Steve and Natasha came in.

"Hey, look who it is!" Tony said, turning with Maria still in his arms. "Say hi to Steve and Aunty Tash." She waved at the two in the doorway and smiled.

"Hey guys," Natasha said. "Hi sweetie," She said to Maria on her own. "Anyway, Clint was saying that he was gonna make homemade pizza for dinner. We wanna know if Maria wants to help?" She was talking to Tony, but looking at Maria. It seemed like everyone was smitten with her.

"You wanna?" Tony looked down at Maria. She looked unsure. Tony set her down on the floor, and knelt on one knee so he was at her height. "Bird brains may seem weird, but he's pretty cool." Maria giggled.

"Bird brains? What's that?" She said, while giggling.

"Another nickname. Anyway, you wanna go? They'll look out for you, won't you Aunty Tash?" Tony looked up at Natasha, who nodded enthusiastically.

"Absolutely." She said with a very serious face, then smiling at Maria.

"See. How about it?" Tony prompted. Maria looked between Natasha and Tony then nodded. The two left the lab, with Maria holding her hand. Good, Tony thought, he wanted Maria to feel just as safe with every Avenger as she did with him.

The three men left in the lab watched them leave, then Bruce went back to doing work. Tony turned to Steve and gives him one of his special smiles, reserved for Steve. Steve wrapped his arms around Tony and pressed their noses together. "She likes science, Steve." Tony said laughing. "Everyone loves her. She's kinda quiet though." Tony mused.

"She's in a new place, with brand new people. She'll loosen up soon enough." Steve pressed his lips against Tony's and closed his eyes. The Avengers were a big family now. "I love you." He said. It wasn't the first time they had said it to each other, but they didn't exchange it often.  
"I love you too." Tony replied. It was strange how with all the girlfriends he'd had, he'd practically had to force those words out of his mouth, but with Steve, it flowed naturally.

* * *

All six of the Avengers, plus Loki, Pepper and Maria, had gathered round the dining room table to eat dinner. Clint came walking out of the kitchen with plates of various pizza's, all with toppings arranged in someway. One was a smiley face, one was a flower, one was a arrow (that was Clint's) and one was a spaceship. All in all, Clint, Natasha and Maria were very pleased with themselves.

Maria didn't say anything while they ate, but was smiling nonetheless, and she giggled over the banter at the table, although she probably didn't understand half of it.

"Hey, who put their olives on my plate? I hate olives!" Clint said, looking round at the people next to him, and fixing his gaze upon a suspicious looking and smirking Natasha.

"Don't look at me like that, and seriously, who puts sunflower seeds on a pizza?" Natasha retaliated, looking oddly at his pizza.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Clint replied, turning back to start munching away at his strangely decorated food.

"Well, that's not as weird as Tony," Steve said pointing to Tony's pizza. "He likes pineapple!"

"Actually Steve, nowadays, that's a perfectly acceptable pizza topping." Bruce chimed in.

"See I told you!"Tony said, gesturing to Steve, pizza in hand. "You days as a capsicle have left you lacking in your knowlegde of pizza toppings."

"It was in my day too. I just never understood it. If you have pineapple, why not have other fruits?"

"Yeah, and you could have like a dessert pizza!" Tony exclaimed.

"I think they already have those." Pepper said after finishing her mouthful.

They carried on that way for the rest of the night, with cheerful banter about unimportant subjects. After dinner, Steve and Tony cleared the table and the rest went and watched TV. The rest of night was spent watching The Simpsons till Maria started drifting off to sleep.

Tony lifted her off the sofa, and although she woke up, she didn't say anything. He carried her off to her room silently, and flicked on the light switch. All of the Avengers had helped with decorating her room, Clint and Natasha painted the room lilac. Loki and Bruce helped Tony chose the furniture, which Thor and Steve promptly put together. Pepper finished with personal touches, like pictures of her and her mother, and her clothes to the wardrobe and things like colouring pencils and reading books. Fairy lights were dotted around the room to serve as a night light.

As Maria could barely keep her eyes open, Tony only removed her shoes, socks and cardigan, as settled her into her bed. He looked at her for a second before beginning to leave, then stopped when he saw everyone gathered in the doorway, watching the little girl. Somehow, in her exhausted state, she managed to mumble "Good night daddy."

To which Tony replied "Night sweetie." Which was followed by a chorus of "Night Maria."


	3. Chapter 3

It was 8:15AM, and Steve's morning had already gone on for too long. He was up at five thirty on the dot, leaving Tony still sleeping to go for a run. He jogged around Central Park, stopping to talk to people sometimes. He'd been jogging for an hour or so, and it was starting to become the time when people first starting coming out. Stopping for a breather, he noticed an elderly woman on a bench that he sometimes talked to.

"Morning Ma'am." He greeted, hopping from foot to foot as not loose his energy. "How are you? Up early this morning."

"I'm good as I could be when I'm up this early. How are you? Anything going on in your life recently?" She croaked. Her face, though old and wrinkled, still had beautiful features, like her jade green eyes.

Steve looked at the women. She reminded him slightly of his grandmother, though the memories were faint, he could still remember sitting on her lap while she told him stories about his grandfather. Putting his hands in his pockets, he sat down next to her. "We have a new room mate." He said, smiling.

He spoke to this woman almost every morning, but she knew very little about him. She knew he lived with a few friends, that he had a new partner (he never specified that it was actually a man) and that he loved art. However, he knew a lot about her. Miss. Johnson's husband had died a couple years ago of cancer. She would always tell him stories about when they had met, or stories of the war. Of course Steve had his own stories, but obviously he couldn't share them with her.

"Really? What are they like?" She asked, turning towards him.

"Actually, it's my partner's daughter. She's four." He smiled at the thought of Maria last night. She had been sweet and happy, but not like the loud and boisterous children he saw out places, like at the supermarket.

"Wow, that must be exciting. What's her name?" Miss. Johnson asked.

"Maria." Steve said happily. "She's kinda shy though." Very rarely did Maria speak, but when she did she spoke loudly with confidence. It seemed that she wasn't exactly shy, just kept to herself.

"Give her time, she'll be a little devil in no time. You got a picture?" Miss Johnson smiled, looking expectantly at him.

"Not on me Ma'am, I'll bring one for next time though." Steve got up and checked his shoe laces. "I best be off now. Good bye Miss!" He called as he began running off.

* * *

He managed to get to the kitchen of Stark tower without waking anyone up. It was still reasonably early. Clint, Thor, and Tony would all still be sleeping, Bruce would be meditating or in his lab, Natasha would either be training, or more recently, she had started getting Maria up in the morning and getting her ready for the day. He dread to think where Loki was.

Once the coffee was ready, Steve sat down at the kitchen table and got a newspaper out. Something about banning gay marriage in America. It made him wonder how people would reacted if they found out the Captain America, one of America's biggest symbols, was actually gay.

When he began to think about it more, it made him wonder if he should. Then, him and Tony could make things more serious. Hell, maybe they could even get married. Tony however, was not the marrying type. Well, he had a daughter now, and they were practically a family already. Maybe he could change his mind.

His trail of thought was cut short when he heard Natasha running quickly down the hallway with Maria. To Steve's surprise, she was in her black leather suit uniform.

"Ah, Steve, can you look after Maria?" She reached into the thigh strap and pulled out a gun, and began loading in, just as Clint (also in uniform) walked into the kitchen.

"Jeez! Natasha, no guns around Maria." Steve said, picking Maria up and sitting her on the counter. She was smiling, although looking slightly confused.

"Sorry, but living with us, this girls probably gonna know how to use one before she reaches 11." Natasha said, stashing it back into her strap. Clint saw the look on Steve's face and quickly corrected it to 15.

Deciding to ignore it, Steve walked over nearer to the pair, leaving Maria on the counter looking through a picture book labelled "Science For Kids!". "So what exactly is going on?" His voice was hushed.

"Fury wants us in, turns out a double agent was working at SHIELD, and now they've located him, it's our job to take him out." Natasha flashed a grin. Double agents were one of the things Natasha hated most, because in their line of work there are so many, you can never know who to trust. So now, when Natasha gets to 'take him out', it seems the only thing plausible to her. "From a distant, if you know what I mean."

Clint looked at his watch, and said that they should get going. Natasha said something to Maria is Russian, that made Maria giggle - Natasha was already teaching her. When they left, Steve turned to faced Maria. She'd been here for around a week, and although they'd spent sometime together, everybody else was always with them. Steve wasn't really sure what to do now.

"Hey Maria!" He cooed. He could improvise on the battlefield, now it was time to put his skills to the test. "Have you had breakfast yet?" The little girl smiled and nodded firmly.

"Nat made me pancakes!" She said excitedly. Considering Maria only spoke on rare occasions, he decided to embrace it, and try and get her to talk more.

"Really? Were they nice?" Steve said, beaming back at her. To Steve's disappointment, she merely nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay then. What do you feel like doing?" Maria just shrugged and looked at the floor, swinging her legs from the top of the counter.

Steve tried to think of things he was good at. He was pretty sure Maria didn't want to work or or learn fighting techniques. It didn't seem like she was hungry either, and baking didn't seem like a good idea. "Maria, do you like art?" Steve questioned hopefully.

Maria smiled and nodded once. Natasha had dressed Maria in a cotton purple t-shirt and light coloured jeans. They seemed plain enough, so it didn't matter if they got messy.

"Want to try painting? Or drawing?" Steve said, holding out his hand.  
She thought for a moment, then went excitedly, "Yeah!" She took Steve's hand and jumped off of the counter.

* * *

Steve had taken her to the community room. It was where most of the Avengers went to hang out, and it had all sorts of things, TV's, musical instruments, CD's, even a art section, Tony has specially added for Steve.

They had taken out some of the old water paints and sketching pencils Steve had stashed in a cupboard. Although he loved all the expensive equipment Tony had bought him, sometimes he just like using things he knew by heart, and would work exactly how he knew they would.

After a quick lesson of using water paints, Steve asked Maria what she wanted to paint. SHe said that she wanted to paint her new family. It touched Steve slightly that she already thought of them as family. Then, when Steve asked what he should paint, he was shocked to hear that Maria wanted him to paint her.

* * *

When Tony woke up, sun was shining through the window and onto his bare chest. The light from the arc reactor was dim in the sunlight, but a light faded blue colour.

"Mmm, Jarvis?" He mumbled lazily. "Time?" He asked. When Tony woke up, he could never be sure of the time, and although he didn't sleep often, when he did, he slept for ages.

"It's 11:36 and it is Friday today. In case you had forgotten, Sir." Jarvis's cool voice sounded from above.

"Yeah, yeah Jarvis, I know what day it is." Tony replied, and swung his legs of the side of the bed, running his hand through his hair. His hair always stuck up after he'd been asleep or taking a nap. He paused, rubbing his eyes. "Jarvis?"

"Yes Sir?" He replied automatically. Tony stood up and looked around the room, hand on hips.

"Where's Steve?" He paused again. Maybe he should sort his priorities out. "And where's Maria, please tell me someone's with her?" He really thought that he should start taking care of her more seriously. Not that he was that kind of responsible person.

"Actually Sir, Steve is with Maria in the community room. They're painting." Jarvis said calmly.

"Oh really?" Tony sounded surprised. Steve had probably spent the least time with Maria, maybe second to Loki. But, it was good to see that Steve was painting again. He hadn't done that in a while.

* * *

Tony decided to go get dressed, then he made his way up to that part of the tower. He dressed casually, jeans and a black wife beater. He didn't usually wear those tops when he wasn't it the lab, because his arc reactor shined through. That's why he wore layers all the time.

The door to the community room was open, and Steve and Maria were straight in view, both with looks of deep concentration on their faces. By the glances Steve kept taking of Maria, he was probably drawing her, but Maria was painting instead. They were making idle conversation, that Tony could just make out.

"Steve?" Maria got his attention by saying his name, but it wasn't like with most children, where they sound whiny.  
"What's my daddy to you?" She didn't look up, focusing hard. They had been painting for a couple of hours, and in that time Maria had decided that she could trust Steve, and maybe talk to him more.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked, taking another glance at the child, learning her features.

"Nat says you love him. How do you love him?" Maria seemed to understand far more than a normal four year old should. Steve took a deep breath and stopped what he was doing. Maria was still working hard on her painting, and didn't notice Steve stop.

He'd been thinking about this for a while. Shouldn't Tony tell her? He didn't wanna turn her away now though, just when she'd just starting talking to him. "Yeah, I do love Tony - your daddy, even."

"Like Nat loves Clint?" Maria asked. That made Steve laugh, and Maria looked up, offended at his chuckle. "She does love him. I can tell." She said with a knowing look, but Steve really wasn't sure how reliable that source was.

"I'm not sure about that. But, yes, in that way I guess I do love him like that." Steve went back to sketching. He was almost finished, just adding final, important details

"Does he love you like that?" Maria question once more. Steve also stopped once again.

"I think so. I hope so." He said as an afterthought. He smiled and shrugged, and started shading one of her eyes, trying to capture the darkness of it, in comparison to the other. Maria smiled and nodded. Apparently, that was a good answer.

They didn't talk for about a minute after that, and Tony thought it would be a good time to enter. Steve's answers had been informative, and Maria seemed pleased with them. Tony thought Steve knew how he felt. Okay, sure - he hadn't said I love you yet, but it's not like he hadn't thought about saying it. He just wasn't sure when to say it.

He walked into the room and sat down at the other side of the table. "Hey guys!" Tony smiled broadly at Maria, and then a smaller smile for Steve, but more meaningful. "Whatcha painting?" He asked, leaning over to Maria and peering at her drawing. There were 9 figures on her piece of paper, each with distinguishable features. For example, one guy, that Tony assumed to be Thor, had a big red cape.

"It's you guys. And me, I'm there." She said pointing to the smallest person, with dark curly hair and two different coloured eyes.

"You got your eyes just right, they're very pretty." Tony said, picking her up and sitting her on his lap. Maria smiled and giggle.

"Daddy, you love Steve right?" Maria turned to look at Tony, unaware that Steve was turning a light shade of pink. Tony wasn't looking at Maria, who was looking expectantly at him, he was looking straight ahead at Steve.

"Yeah. I do. A lot." Tony smiled at Steve, then turned and smiled at Maria too.


End file.
